There was a sombre mood in the paddock at Monaco in 1994, following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna during the San Marino Grand Prix weekend. The sport’s governing body would soon make sweeping changes in an effort to improve Formula 1 safety.
Schumacher Takes First Monaco Grand Prix Win
The Monaco Grand Prix meeting started badly, when Karl Wendlinger crashed heavily exiting the tunnel. He remained in a coma for many days, but eventually recovered. His Sauber team withdrew from the rest of the weekend following the accident.
In qualifying Michael Schumacher beat McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen to pole. Gerhard Berger was third for Ferrari, followed by Damon Hill. There was only one Williams entered at Monaco, out of respect for the unfortunate Senna. Two grid spots were left empty at the front, and the drivers held a minute’s silence before the race.
Hill and Hakkinen’s race ended soon after the start, as they collided at the first corner. This left Schumacher in the lead from Ferrari drivers Berger and Jean Alesi, in second and third respectively. McLaren’s Martin Brundle, who qualified poorly, had a strong race. Despite an unscheduled pit stop he recovered to eventually finish second.
Schumacher won the race, and Berger was third. Andrea De Cesaris, standing in for the suspended Eddie Irvine at Jordan, was fourth. Alesi finished in fifth, struggling with fitness on his return after a serious testing accident. The final point went to Michele Alboreto in a Minardi.
Hill Wins Spanish Formula 1 Race
There was yet another serious accident during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. Simtek driver Andrea Montermini crashed heavily into the pit wall, although his injuries were fortunately not life threatening.
Pole position went to Schumacher, with Hill second in the Williams. Hakkinen was third for McLaren, followed by JJ Lehto in the second Benetton. There were a couple of changes in the driver line-up. Alex Zanardi replaced Pedro Lamy at Lotus. The Portuguese driver was recovering from a massive testing accident at Silverstone, in which his car ended up in a spectator tunnel. Williams test driver David Coulthard was promoted to a race seat alongside Hill and the controversial Irvine returned to action after his three race ban.
Schumacher led the early stages of the Grand Prix, but his Benetton then developed a problem which left him stuck in fifth gear. In one of the greatest drives of his career Schumacher managed to make two pit stops in fifth and drive fast enough to finish second, behind the winner Hill. Mark Blundell was third for Tyrrell, followed by Alesi, Pierluigi Martini and Irvine.
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